Typical illustration processes rely on translating Excel logic into proprietary platforms. This process means carriers pay a tax to rewrite annuity calculation logic every time a new product is launched, rates are updated, or disclosures are adjusted.
A more pragmatic approach is emerging: keep Excel as the shared source of truth, use Coherent to govern and deploy that logic as APIs, and let Illustrata turn it into a compliant, production-grade illustration system.
In our webinar with Illustrata, we talked about why this matters now. Simply put, illustration speed has become a growth lever. In competitive annuity markets, the ability to launch, update, and distribute illustrations quickly often determines who captures demand—and who misses the window.
For life and annuity carriers, illustration system modernization often fails not because actuarial logic is complex, but because translation-driven implementation risk compounds at every handoff.
That’s the real problem. And it’s why stopping the translation loop matters more than replacing Excel ever could.
Why Speed Matters for Annuities Right Now
The annuity market is entering a pivotal window.
Doug Loots, CRO for Insurance at Coherent, shared retiree volume context—roughly 4.2 million retirees in the U.S. in 2025, declining to 3.7 million by 2030 and 3.1 million by 2040—to underscore advice from Bobby Samuelson, CEO of Illustrata:
Strike while the iron’s hot.
The market is active. Competition is rising. Product pace matters.
Bobby also described how the annuity landscape is shifting more quickly than before, with frequent filings and launches increasing pressure on speed to market.
Which leads to the real question:
Can you modernize illustration delivery without signing up for a multi-year rebuild?
The Real Bottleneck in Illustration Modernization
Inside most carriers, product development follows a disciplined path. Actuaries design products in modeling systems such as MG-ALFA or Prophet, then build Excel-based test tools to validate assumptions and pricing.
Excel becomes the shared source of truth across actuarial, finance, compliance, and product teams because it is transparent and universally understood. When there is only one representation of the product, ambiguity disappears and parallel system discrepancies are reduced.
The delay begins after validation.
Once spreadsheet logic is finalized, it is typically handed off to IT or a third-party vendor to be rewritten into a proprietary illustration platform. That same logic may be rebuilt again to support different distribution channels. Each translation introduces cost, extended testing cycles, and the risk that what is coded diverges subtly from the original actuarial intent.
The issue is not mathematical complexity. It is translation and duplication.
Illustrations often become the longest pole in the tent because product logic is being rewritten rather than deployed.
How Coherent Governs the Logic
If Excel already functions as the enterprise source of truth, rewriting it introduces unnecessary implementation risk.
Coherent Spark converts Excel-based calculations directly into secure, versioned APIs. The logic remains exactly as authored, but gains auditability, change tracking, and production-grade execution.
Excel stays the authoring layer. Coherent becomes the execution and governance layer.
That separation unlocks flexibility.
You can wrap any UI around the same logic. And you can deploy that logic wherever distribution actually happens—agent tooling, portals, or internal applications—instead of forcing everything through one monolithic surface.
How Illustrata Delivers the Illustration System
This is often the point where teams expect complexity: calculations may be delivered as APIs, but illustration systems still require polished, compliant outputs.
Illustrata builds on top of Coherent Spark to deliver branded, regulator-approved illustration systems across distribution channels.
Using Spark-powered APIs, Illustrata provides:
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Real-time illustration interfaces
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Regulator-ready PDF outputs
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Rate management workflows
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Multi-channel distribution support
Because calculations originate from governed Excel logic, updates become controlled model releases rather than vendor rebuild projects. A rate change is made once in Excel and deployed through governed APIs. A disclosure update can be adjusted upstream and reflected immediately in compliant outputs.
The architecture is intentionally simple:
Build once. Deploy everywhere.
What This Unlocks in Day-to-Day Carrier Operations
The impact becomes tangible once illustration logic is treated as governed, deployable infrastructure rather than something rewritten for each system.
Implementation timelines compress because product logic is not rewritten. Maintenance becomes more predictable because changes are made in one place. Experience design becomes more flexible because APIs allow carriers to support advisor portals, retirement platforms, and digital distribution channels without duplicating calculations.
Illustrations become portable, consistent, and scalable.
In a market defined by demographic urgency and competitive pressure, that flexibility matters..
Where to Start — and How the Partnership Works
For carriers asking where to begin, the starting point depends on the objective.
If the priority is illustration system modernization—shortening implementation timelines, simplifying rate updates, and improving flexibility across distribution—engagement typically begins with Illustrata. Illustrata deploys compliant, client-ready illustration systems powered by governed Excel logic.
If the broader goal is enterprise spreadsheet governance—operationalizing Excel-based product logic across illustrations, administration, pricing, and advisor tooling—engagement can begin with Coherent. Coherent Spark provides the governed API layer that deploys spreadsheet-driven business logic securely across systems.
In practice, the two often work together. Illustrata delivers the illustration experience. Coherent provides the governed execution infrastructure. Together, they allow carriers to modernize illustration delivery without committing to a full system rebuild.
A practical first step is straightforward: identify a product where illustration updates are slow, expensive, or fragile. From there, evaluate how governed Excel APIs could streamline the workflow.
Capturing the Window
The annuity industry is evolving quickly. Competitive intensity is rising. Pre-retiree demand is accelerating. Carriers that can innovate and iterate efficiently will capture disproportionate growth during this demographic window.
Illustration modernization does not require a multi-year transformation. It can begin by operationalizing the Excel models your teams already trust, governing them with Coherent, and deploying them through Illustrata to deliver compliant, flexible illustration systems.
The opportunity is here.
The question is how efficiently you can move.
If you want to see the end-to-end flow—from Excel authoring through governed execution to live illustration delivery—the on-demand webinar walks through the architecture and demo discussed here.
Or if you're actively exploring ways to modernize illustration delivery, you can connect directly with the teams at Coherent and Illustrata to talk through your products and priorities. We’ll help you see where this approach fits—and what it could unlock first.
